U.S. President Donald Trump gestures, as he speaks from a balcony, on the day he’s anticipated to signal a sweeping spending and tax laws, often called the “One Massive Stunning Invoice Act,” on the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 4, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned he had signed letters to 12 international locations outlining the varied tariff ranges they’d face on items they export to america, with the “take it or go away it” provides to be despatched out on Monday.
Trump, chatting with reporters aboard Air Power One as he traveled to New Jersey, declined to call the international locations concerned, saying that might be made public on Monday.
Trump had earlier on Thursday instructed reporters that he anticipated a primary batch of letters to exit on Friday, a nationwide vacation in america, although the date has now shifted.
In a world commerce struggle that has upended monetary markets and set off a scramble amongst policymakers to protect their economies, Trump in April introduced a ten% base tariff fee and extra quantities for many international locations, some ranging as excessive as 50%.
Nonetheless, all however the 10% base fee have been subsequently suspended for 90 days to permit extra time for negotiations to safe offers.
That interval ends on July 9, though Trump early on Friday mentioned the tariffs could possibly be even larger — ranging as much as 70% — with most set to enter impact August 1.
“I signed some letters they usually’ll exit on Monday, in all probability twelve,” Trump mentioned, when requested about his plans on the tariff entrance. “Totally different quantities of cash, totally different quantities of tariffs.”
Trump and his high aides initially mentioned they’d launch negotiations with scores of nations on tariff charges, however the U.S. president has soured on that course of after repeated setbacks with main buying and selling companions, together with Japan and the European Union.
He touched on that briefly late on Friday, telling reporters: “The letters are higher … a lot simpler to ship a letter.”
He didn’t tackle his prediction that some broader commerce agreements could possibly be reached earlier than the July 9 deadline.
The shift within the White Home’s technique displays the challenges of finishing commerce agreements on all the pieces from tariffs to non-tariff boundaries corresponding to bans on agricultural imports, and particularly on an accelerated timeline.
Most previous commerce agreements have taken years of negotiations to finish.
The one commerce agreements reached up to now are with Britain, which reached a deal in Could to maintain a ten% fee and received preferential remedy for some sectors together with autos and plane engines, and with Vietnam, reducing tariffs on many Vietnamese items to twenty% from his beforehand threatened 46%. Many U.S. merchandise can be allowed to enter Vietnam responsibility free.
A deal anticipated with India has didn’t materialize, and EU diplomats on Friday mentioned they’ve failed to realize a breakthrough in commerce negotiations with the Trump administration, and will now search to increase the established order to keep away from tariff hikes.